Be Here Now?
I follow many pages on social media of people who want to be in France. There are so many beautiful pictures, flowers, cafes, the life we knew before corona. They all begin with, “I wish I were there right now.”. I never say anything, but as I am actually living here, I want to scream out, “No, you don’t want to be here right now! It doesn’t look or feel like this!”
Being in France right now is bizarre, to say the least. Everything has been closed, apart from shops, since October. October! It is now March. Not one terraced restaurant or bar has been open for months. I live off of one of the busiest squares in Aix-en-Provence. It is empty. There are chairs and tables tied up together as if expecting a hurricane to pass through. One dining set after the other. The doors to all of the bars and restaurants that feed those terraces are closed and have been empty for months. As I make my way home through this square, the only sound I can hear are my footsteps’ as they echo with each clap on the stone pavement. At times, I am so loud that I wish I’d worn my sneakers. It would be nicer to quietly swoosh my way home instead of the loud clomping sound I make, letting everyone know that I’m there.
France has been through many different phases of this lockdown. One year ago, today, the entire country was closed down. I remember hearing about it from my new home in Florida. My youngest daughter was a boarding student here in Aix. A few weeks prior, there was talk of the schools shutting down, but no-one really thought it would happen. Reports were coming in daily as to what measures would be taken and then It all happened very quickly. Before I knew it, my daughter was living at a friend’s house. It was a last-minute rush to keep her in France and allow her to do homeschooling with a friend. This was a much nicer alternative to being in another time zone, alone with MI’m (Me). All of this, we thought, would last no more than a few weeks. Little did we know that it would be months. It wasn’t long before I knew that I needed to go to France and be with her. It was clear, by April, that this virus was going to stick around for a while, and it was best for Mom and daughter to be together. So, here I am.
I arrived in July, and when I got here, France was bustling. After a few months of strict lockdown, they decided to open everything up again, Life in France had returned to normal (or so it seemed). I couldn’t believe how many people were out in Aix. The streets were filled with tourists, and the bars and restaurants were heaving with people every night. It was a fun atmosphere, but worrying. During the summer months, the covid numbers were quite low. So, after a whole summer of tourists and busy summer activity, it was no surprise when the Covid cases started to climb. By September, our area had the highest count in all of the country. New measures were put in place again, but the powers that be decided that the kids should go back to school. This was the best decision ever. Kids in school, but everyone else needed to work from home. We have been going through a series of modifications since September. By October, the government decided that no-one could leave their home except for medical reasons, supermarket, or school. For exercise, we could go no further than 1 km from our home and only for the duration of 1 hour. All of this was monitored via an application where we had to enter our information as to why we were leaving the house and at what time. This was not a joke, and the police were out monitoring the situation. I did feel fortunate to be in the South of France. Even though I am in the middle of the city of Aix, the weather was good, and it was nice to get outside for a walk. I made sure that I did that every day. I even took a chance and went out of my 1 km so that I could see some nature in the local park. I figured it was within 1 km of the center of Aix. I just happened to live on the opposite side, which put me out of the range.
Shortly before Christmas, the shops were allowed to open but still no bars or restaurants. This has remained the case, since. It is now March.
Spring has arrived, and the warm weather has returned. There is a slight change in the air. People are out, and it appears that the university students have returned. That empty square that I mentioned earlier can now be found with students laid out like cats in the sun. They are socializing in small groups, and I noticed just last week that there were a few larger groups in the evenings where students gathered around over a beer. There must be a bar opened somewhere, and they are able to sell drinks. This seems counterproductive, as now, there are large groups socializing in the street. . You would think it would be more logical to have tables outside where they could be socially distanced. I have a feeling that things will lockdown again.
All of this to say that no, you don’t want to be here right now. France is not what you imagine. The cafes are closed and even the beaches are closed in most areas. People are walking around in masks. Life is restricted, and although it remains beautiful, the atmosphere is far from romantic.
It is officially one year since the pandemic was declared. Let’s hope that in one year from today we will have put this behind us and that we will be making plans, once again, to go out with friends, go dancing, go to the movies and the theater. Everything that we miss, everything that we have always loved. One thing is for sure. I don’t think we will take any of these smalls joys for granted again.
*Re-reading this on April 15th, 2022. We are, in fact back to normal. It’s new and it feels strange to not be wearing masks anymore. As of this past weekend, the tourists seemed to be back in full force, the cafes and restaurants are packed with people and we are no longer needing to wear masks or provide proof of vaccination. Covid is still here but the ominous threat that hovered over us for so long seems to be behind us. Breathing a sigh of relief.